TAKE AN ICY DIP AT THE
ARCTIC BATH
Frozen in winter or afloat in summer, the Arctic Bath
on the Lule River, in Harads leaves you speechless.
Perhaps because you’ve dared to plunge into the
numbingly cold water, as any hardy Swede would.
Or perhaps because you’re stunned by the hotel’s
architecture — designed to resemble a beaver’s
dam in a nod to the river’s timber-transporting
past. Whether you’re sampling imaginative riffs on
local game, fish, herbs and berries in the restaurant,
getting a pine-oil rubdown in the spa or embracing
the dopamine-boosting benefits of cold-water
swimming, there’s always plenty to do. Of all the
seasons, winter has the magic edge; stay in a
floating cabin with a private deck as the Northern
Lights swoop across the night. arcticbath.se KWRACE THE NIGHT THAT
NEVER COMES WHILE
RUNNING THE TROMSØ
MIDNIGHT SUN MARATHON
After a tough Arctic winter, Norwegians pounce on
summer with a biological urgency. Many celebrate
the midnight sun with parties, bonfires and flower
garlands, but Tromsø goes one step further with its
nighttime marathon. Held on the third weekend in
June, when the sun never dips below the horizon,
this race — at 69 degrees north of the Earth’s
equatorial plane — is a thing of beauty, heading
around the island and wowing with views of shining
fjords and eternally snow-capped mountains. If
you’re not quite ready to run, take the cable-car
up to 1,381ft Mount Storsteinen instead to see the
midnight sun burn above the silhouetted peaks of
Ringvassøya island. msm.noGO ON A FOSSIL HUNT AT
MØNS KLINT
Ragged chalk cliffs sheer down to vast scoops of
beach and the startlingly turquoise Baltic Sea at
Møns Klint. Located on the east of the island of
Møn, this coast is truly ancient, and you can feel it,
whether cycling through the gnarled beech forest
of Klinteskoven or sifting for fossils, including
squid-like belemnites and echinoids (sea urchins).
For greater insight, sign up for one of GeoCenter
Møns Klint’s guided tours. At night, meanwhile,
the heavens shine above Scandinavia’s first Dark
Sky Park. Using binoculars, you can pick out
constellations and planets, although the glittering
sweep of the Milky Way and shooting stars are
visible to the naked eye. To stargaze in style, book
Fyrhytten, a cliff-edge cabin next to a lighthouse,
where you can peer up to distant galaxies from the
outdoor hot tub. moensklint.dk6
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NORWAY
DENMARK
SWEDEN
A guest takes a bracing dip at
Sweden’s Arctic Bath hotel
Left: Writer Ellen Himelfarb
meets Lars Eriksson, a Sámi
elder, in Swedish Lapland